The present invention relates to computer networks and, more specifically, to control of network switches and addressing link between switches and switch controllers in a computer network.
Ethernet networks are typically employed in local area networks (LANs) that include a plurality of network switches. A number of communication protocols have been developed and continue to evolve to enhance Ethernet network performance for various environments. For example, an enhancement to Ethernet, called data center bridging (DCB), converged enhanced Ethernet (CEE) or data center Ethernet (DCE), supports the convergence of LANs with storage area networks (SANs). Other protocols that can be used in a data center environment in conjunction with Ethernet include, for instance, Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), Internet Wide Area Remote direct memory access Protocol (iWARP), Remote direct memory access over Converged Ethernet (RoCE).
In an OpenFlow network environment, switches are connected via secure links to respective controllers, in order to control switch configuration and routing. Such controllers typically provide such control via control data packets sent over the secure link, which maintain higher levels of data integrity than conventional Ethernet fabrics.
Bit errors occur due to lost or corrupted data packets, and such error rates may be elevated as networks increase in size and complexity. For example, larger data center networks (e.g., 10 G Ethernet with 5000-10000, fully provisioned) typically require more switches, which implies that each packet needs to traverse more links, thus making each packet more susceptible to link bit errors. In addition, increases in link data rates can increase data rate dependent noise and elevate bit error rates.